Editorial
The Library Scare
By Editorial Board
Students worried the library would take a step backward when administrators called for quiet earlier this term. Oliver Wendell Holmes Library Director Elisabeth Tully, however, has proven this concern superfluous. Interested in addressing “the gaps between what the library is doing and what users expect and want,” Tully has kept the library a place for students to congregate, while simulaneously working to protect silent study areas. Meanwhile, in her seven years as director, Tully has also helped to bring the library into the 21st Century by considering the advantages of electronic media vs. print media, expanding on the library’s technological capabilities and finding new ways to make using technology easier for students to use. Following other trends of modern libraries, Tully has even considered putting a café in the Dole Room, although health codes have restricted this idea from coming to fruition. (She is still considering a...
A Faculty Member as Trustee
By Editorial Board
There are some members of the faculty who understand this school better than anyone else. Teachers who have been here for 35 years or more who have watched the school evolve and who understand Andover today in the context of its history. These members of our community represent a wealth of knowledge that could benefit the trustees in their deliberations. The Phillipian proposes that the Board of Trustees appoint a senior member of the faculty as a full trustee. The purpose of this trustee would not be to function as a representative of the faculty, but to lend an immeasurable depth of knowledge during the closed-door decision making process. We recognize that the Board of Trustees already keeps itself busy connecting with school, whether it’s listening to presentations and reading reports, or meeting with committees, administrators and faculty. We also realize that all of the Trustees are...
What You Get For $37,200
By Editorial Board
Welcome parents. In your visit to Andover, you will be interested to discover what your children have been involved in, how their classes are going, if they are sleeping well and – we should not forget – how your tuition checks are being spent. For those of you who have thought of taking out a second mortgage this year, consider what you get for your $37,200 at PA.
In Speaking of Money: The Good: Since tuition only pays for about half of the actual cost of educating a student, the final monetary investment in your child’s education is twice what you actually pay. Of course, the return on an investment in your son or daughter’s education is immeasurable, especially at PA. The Bad: Exeter’s endowment broke one billion dollars last week and ours is barley over 800 million. In other words, the Exeter community will have considerably more...
Everyone Goes Over
By The Phillipian
The cluster deans had their work cut out for them last Tuesday, notifying more than 200 students that they had exceeded the school’s bandwidth limitations. The Department of Technology sees no reason for inaccuracies in their record-breaking list, but many in the community - administrators included - are surprised by the new record. The number of students in violation this week seems innocuous until placed in context: it is more than 28 percent of registered boarding students. Some accused students claim innocence, often citing their own bandwidth monitors. Dean of Students Marlys Edwards believes that “the most reasonable explanation is that students were not being told they were going over [in the beginning of school],” pointing out that without these notifications students were exceeding the bandwidth limit without realizing it. Although some believe that the Department of Technology has made a mistake, others attribute the large spike...
Space, Time and Rest
By Editorial Board
The success of this week’s Faculty Development Day points to one of our school’s more brilliant new initiatives: to give students more space, more time and more rest. The pace of life has always been a concern of this community, but our concern was not met with a viable solution until now. Many in the community were disgruntled last year when administrators extended the school year by 10 days. This extension, however, has given us an opportunity for the “spacer” days which are crucial to relieving our out-of-control pace of life. There’s no secret about it: Faculty Development Day was as much about giving students time to rest as it was about offering new resources to faculty. To the students who really needed it – to sleep, to study, to prepare for the SAT’s or to prepare this newspaper – the day off was a godsend. Perhaps...
Corrections
By Editorial Board
A caption for a photo of the Tour de France in last week’s Sports section misidentified a cyclist as Michael Rasmussen.
A “New Faculty” box for J. A. Housiaux mis-stated his department. He teaches in the Religion and Philosophy Department, not Community Service.
The Phillipian regrets the errors....
Risking Temptation
By Editorial Board
Note: Since the beginning of school this year the situation in the library has been extremely contentious. Only after carefully observing the status of the library, as well discussing the current situation with students, other board members, staff and administrators have we been able to come to the following conclusions. It is hard for students to see what all the fuss in the library is about. Sure, there is some inappropriate behavior, and yes, the lobby can become quite rambunctious. But if you want to study, there are many places to go free of distraction. Though noise sometimes leaks in from the lobby, the Garver Room remains an excellent place to study. The Freeman Room, or “comfy chair room,” is wonderfully conducive to group study, and individual desks in the basement provide an excellent sanctuary for students interested in individual work. It is not so much having...
A Note of Thanks
By Editorial Board
A Note of Thanks: To Dr. Cernota, whose tirless efforts in the first two weeks of school as our Scheduling Officer have perfectly demonstrated the tenacity of one of this school’s greatest administrators. Although swamped, Dr. Cernota never stopped working for the students who, consequently, admire him deeply....
Don’t Force Non Sibi
By Editorial Board
There are many good things we can say about Non Sibi Day. Administrators and faculty worked tirelessly to see the day come to fruition. Student-leaders provided strong management and brought an extraordinary amount of enthusiasm. The students themselves, most of who participated with little reluctance, created a real feeling of non sibi. The day turned out to be a beautiful, remarkable achievement.
In making Non Sibi Day involuntary, however, the organizers underestimated PA students. It seems insulting that organizers thought it wiser to force students to participate rather than risk poor attendance by making participation optional. Since when have PA students demonstrated a lack of enthusiasm in community service? We point it out frequently: 80 percent of students at Andover participate in community service at some point in their time here. Strong, perhaps full student participation could just as easily have been accomplished if the program had been...
A Trend of Distrust
By Editorial Board
The Phillipian hopes that various new campus policies do not represent a trend of weakening trust throughout the Andover community. The new library policy and the new daily attendance system are intended to improve efficiency, accuracy, and the quality of campus life.
However, the stricter library policy, which includes a discussion with the cluster dean and being banned from the library as consequences of disruptive behavior, suggests that students are no longer trusted to act respectfully in a place of study. The rules sound as though they are directed at a classroom of noisy kindergarteners, instead of at the students of Phillips Academy. We hope that students are given more credit for our dedication to our studies and our responsibility for our own surroundings.
The new attendance policy implies that students cannot be trusted to be honest about their reasons for missing class. In eliminating the student’s right to...